Today’s meeting of high reach excavator manufacturers to be broadcast live.

Following a successful trial at the National Demolition Training Group AGM earlier this month and a brief test run at yesterday’s NFDC High Reach Working Wednesday, we are planning to broadcast live from the meeting of high reach excavator manufacturers and modifiers that is taking place at the NFDC’s headquarters later this morning.

These things can be rather temperamental but, technology allowing, you will be able to view the discussions by clicking here from 10.00 am (UK time) onwards.

EDA to hold meeting in Stockholm to coincide with DEMCON show

Just 24 hours after we reported on the growing take up of exhibition space at DEMCON 2010 comes news that will gladden the heart of the organisers.

The European Demolition Association, meeting in the UK earlier today, has agreed that it has agreed to host it’s Autumn meeting in Stockholm the day before DEMCON, allowing senior EDA officers to visit the new show, it is also thought that the EDA will also be invited as VIP guests at the exhibition’s gala dinner.

More news as we receive it.

Detroit to step up demolition of vacant and dilapidated homes in 2010.

Detroit officials say between 2,500 and 3,000 vacant homes are expected to be demolished this year in the city.

Planning officials told the City Council on Monday that the houses will be torn down with about $14 million in federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program and other funds.

Officials say it costs about $10,000 to demolish each single-family home. The city also is pursuing options to collect the cost of demolition from property owners.

Read the full story here.

KPTM Fox 42 releases new footage of Veterans Memorial Bridge implosion.

Yesterday, we brought you some very rough, “citizen journalist” footage that captured the last moments of a bridge linking Nebraska and Iowa before it was imploded and dropped into the icy Missouri River.

Now, we’re pleased to bring you some new footage of that same bridge implosion, this time shot by a professional news crew.

Veterans Memorial Bridge implosion video.

Crews have today imploded the Veterans Memorial Bridge, around 600 feet of the bridge on the Nebraska side of the river was demolished at 11:30 am local time.

The bridge, which opened in 1936, is being replaced by a new, $88 million bridge nearby. Construction of the new bridge is scheduled to be completed by June 1, just in time for the last College World Series at nearby Rosenblatt Stadium.

Jensen Construction Co. of Des Moines is the contractor and Chicago Explosives Services handled the demolition work.

Read the full story here or watch the (somewhat shaky) initial video footage below.

Photo appears to have captured ghostly image of schoolboy on UK site.

Those of a nervous disposition should look away now. Word has reached us of the image of a ghostly schoolboy being captured in a photograph taken during the demolition of a school building in the North of England.

John Fores insists the spectral figure was not present when he took the picture of the part-demolished brick building. But when he looked back at the images he spotted the boy, aged around eight with short hair and wearing a dark top, standing on the right of the picture looking into the camera.

Fores was carrying out demolition work on the site at Anlaby Primary School, near Hull, East Yorkshire. He took several pictures on his mobile phone to record the demolition work. He said: “I took the pictures just after noon. I took a few and at the time didn’t notice anything. When I put the pictures on the computer and I saw the figure, the hairs on the back of my neck stuck up. I couldn’t believe what I had seen. I didn’t believe in ghosts, but since I got this picture I am not so sure.”

Although we’re not experts in photography or the spirit world, it strikes us that everyoneinvolved in this story has missed a very important point here. Regardless of whether the image was deliberately doctored or if it does truly show the image of a long-deceased schoolboy, no-one seems to have mentioned the fact that the child looks about 11 feet tall!

If you’re brave enough, you can read the full story here.

Patrick Horsley on Japanese Knotweed and demolition’s role in its eradication.

Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia Japonica) is the most pernicious invasive weed in the UK. It roots up to three metres deep, can regenerate from plant fragments, and is easily spread in soil, garden waste or even vehicle tyres. It is rapid growing and easily identifiable. Japanese Knotweed has hollow, upright, bamboo like stems, growing up to three metres in height. The large smooth edged leaves range from heart shaped (Japanese Knotweed) to huge “elephant ear” type leaves (Giant Knotweed).

The Seasons of Japanese Knotweed
In the Spring it emerges as a young red/purple shoot that turn green as they age. Some plants can leaf quite early but it can initially grow up to 50 cm as a straight rod. In the summer the plant grows into bamboo like hallow stems up to 4 cm in diameter with very lush, green leaves. In the autumn the plant becomes very attractive as it blooms with long clusters of small green and white flowers. In the winter the stems turn brittle and brown with the now brown and yellow leaves usually falling off at the first frost.

In a built up environment Japanese Knotweed shoots are able to push up through asphalt, damaging pavements, car parks and public utilities. Rhizomes have been recorded penetrating foundations, walls and land drainage.

Japanese Knotweed was introduced to the UK by the Victorians as an ornamental and fodder plant. Due to its root mass, it was used for both bank stabilisation of canals, road verges and railway embankments. The plant spreads from rhizome and stem materials with as little as 10mm length of 0.7g fresh weight of rhizome can give rise to new plants. The crown and the rhizomes act as a massive storage organ which allows massive rapid growth in the spring and is a big advantage for Knotweed over other indigenous plants.

It is an offense to knowingly spread Japanese Knotweed and in a built environment is usually conditioned as part of the planning process for action. Back in 2005 there was a published estimate of circa £1.6 billion to completely eradicate knotweed from the UK’ that figure is probably much higher now.

As a leading business for the eradication of Japanese Knotweed, we are aware of the demolition and construction industry requirements to successfully treat Knotweed at a rate that is compatible with programme constraints throughout the year, including the dormant winter period. The professionals involved with the built environment hold knowledge that there are a few market options to treat and kill Japanese Knotweed in a single growing season, including our own F.A.S.T (Foliage and Stem Treatment) System which is now established, and such herbicidal treatments are clearly the most economic to the end user.

The Government emphasis and intent to reduce carbon footprint has had a severe impact on the cost to remove the problem by way of excavation and transport to tip. The tax levied by HM Customs and Excise is now prohibitive and the ability to apply for contaminated landfill tax exemption has ceased. To offset this penalty, Japanese Knotweed was included in the 2009 Finance Bill for 150% tax relief against the cost of treatment only, but there are exceptions and not all sectors can realise the benefit. It is easy to understand the Government policy, we cannot indefinitely create massive landfill sites simply moving the problem from point A to point B. The number of landfill sites capable of receiving Japanese Knotweed is reducing and the distance to travel from source to tip involves unnecessary lorry movements, sometimes at excessive distances. Using Environment Agency guidelines, a single stand of Japanese Knotweed calculates out at up to 18 lorry transport movements.

The demolition and construction industries need to understand that forward thinking and planning is needed. In the majority of instances Japanese Knotweed is recognised at an early stage and it is now common to see it noted on intrusive site investigation reports as an integral part of the planning process.

The simple rules are that any development that permits a program for eradication in a full growing season can have the plants killed at a cost circa 10% of the cost to tip. Any development that requires immediate excavation and removal to tip will suffer severe and unnecessary financial penalty.

Alternative Solutions?
Industry is not slow to spot an opportunity and a few innovative ideas are now offered
• On site cell burial is available; in our view it is expensive, you need space and you need an area not designated for future development
• There are root barriers available which are designed to stop the spread and will eradicate the plant in the longer term.
• In the last few years, screening out the rhizomes has been introduced
• We have observed a number of market options to design alternative treatments which do not delay development program. These options, which include rapid insitu treatment, have minimal risk and can be conducted at around 25% of the cost to tip

Japanese Knotweed needs professional respect if you want to avoid re-growth and guarantee your actions.

After extensive research, methods have been developed for neutralising the growth of Japanese Knotweed within the soils matrix. The writer has been involved with various treatment protocols for over 16 years. Observations have shown results which have led to develop rapid integrated treatment. Japanese Knotweed rhizomes will not propagate easily when below a certain length and diameter; with the correct dosages of approved herbicide formulae applied directly onto the rhizome, growth can be neutralised.

The solution which allows treatment even in the winter months combines an understanding of the plant physiology with experience on historical eradication.

In simple terms a controlled excavation of the impacted area takes place to remove the plants and rhizomes. The excavated material is transferred into the treatment plant to reduce the rhizome mass to a none viable re-growth size with a simultaneous application of approved herbicide during the treatment cycle. The treated material is set aside or can be returned to the previously excavated pit.

This is just one example of forward thinking being applied. There is no doubt that invasive weed specialists will continue to field test innovative ideas to eradicate the problem within acceptable timescales in the ensuing years but with purposeful forward planning there are products and services available now and which work.

This guest blog was written by Patrick Horsley, director, Invasive Vegetation Management & Treatment Ltd
www.knotweed-uk.com

The show’s still more than six months away, but it’s already attracted some big names.

As Hillhead 2009 and SED 2010 have found to their considerable cost, now is not a great time to be in the trade exhibition business. The global economic recession has made many traditional exhibition supporters begin guarding their marketing budgets like a lioness guards its cubs; and, with the universal adoption of the Internet as a business tool, many are now finding alternative means of delivering their sales and marketing messages in a more direct and less costly fashion.

But none of this has stopped DEMCON 2010 from attracting some of the biggest names int he demolition equipment sector. With the show still more than six months away, the organisers have already signed up exhibitors including: Atlas Copco, Brokk, Caterpillar, Darda, Doosan, Finmac, Hanwoo, Indeco, LaBounty, Montabert, Stanley, TreviBenne and VTN Europe. In addition, both the crushing and screening and Breakers Lahti (formerly Rammer) divisions of Sandvik will be in attendance.

Owners of condo close to 1515 S. Flagler building claims it was damaged by implosion.

Depending on who you ask, it was either the second or third tallest building ever imploded; it was described by city officials as “flawless” and by one industry expert as “perfect an implosion that you will ever see”. But with the dust now settled and the clean-up in full swing at the site of the former 1515 S. Flagler Drive building in West Palm Beach, the repercussions have begun.

Viking Arms at 1527 S. Flagler Drive, 43 metres (142 feet) from the implosion site, has required temporary patches to fill about 40 holes on its roof, property manager Seth Shulman said Monday.

“It’s definitely pieces nobody expected, chunks being thrown everywhere,” Shulman said. “After the roof was cleaned up, there was a lot more damage than we thought.”

Shulman said he was surprised to find holes ranging from pencil tip dots to six-inch punctures. “When we were going through all the details with the developers, nobody ever said anything about pieces of concrete flying the way they did,” Shulman said.

According to Shulman, three floors in the 30-story building were filled with explosives, and then the concrete where the explosives are placed are wrapped in chain-link mesh to capture any big pieces. “They said it would be enough to keep all the concrete in the contained area from blowing out,” Shulman said.

Doug Wise, the city’s construction services director, said that Viking Arms is the only condo to report as much damage as it did, although a neighboring house reported interior drywall cracks. Wise couldn’t verify whether the cracks were caused by the demolition, which was the third-tallest implosion ever staged in the United States.

“Viking Arms is not going to get abandoned in this deal,” Wise said. “The city is going to stand by them and make sure the insurance company makes it right, as fast as we can.”

Read the full story here.

Time lapse video of Cabrini-Green building demolished by crawler crane and wrecking ball.

Regular Demolition News reader and contributor Robert Kullinski alerted us to this stop motion animation of the demolition of 660 W. Division, one of the last remaining buildings within the Cabrini-Green housing projects in Chicago.

Since late 1999, Chicago has been working to replace the old model of isolated low income residences with new, low rise, mixed income communities. As of this posting, there are four more buildings to be demolished (two whites, two reds).

For more information, please visit http://www.Cabrini-Green.com